Unless changes are made soon, the state’s contributions to its two pension systems for public school teachers and state workers will climb from $1.5 billion this year to $2.2 billion next year. And if left unchecked, it could climb to an unsustainable $5 billion by 2020.

Rep. Chris Ross, R-158th of East Marlborough, told members of the Longwood Rotary Club Thursday morning the pension problem is draining the public treasuries both at the municipal and the state level.

“It’s draining us,” Ross said. “We’ve been cutting and cutting and cutting over the past several years and trying to figure where to cut even further is a huge problem. The current unfunded liability (of pensions) at the state level is $44 billion.”

There are several things lawmakers can do to alleviate the problem, Ross said, including requiring all new teachers to fund their own retirement through a 401(k) program, eliminate all overtime for municipal workers, increase the retirement age and sell state assets like liquor stores and the Philadelphia Parking Authority for a quick infusion of cash.

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Ross said changing the pension system for new teachers is something he supports and must be done, and it could include workers who haven’t put in the 10 years required to become vested in the system. But the state wouldn’t realize savings from this plan until many years down the road, he said.

But changing the pension system for vested current teachers may not happen, Ross said.

“The private sector has gone to a defined contribution program,” Ross said. “But the challenge we have is the state Constitution and the U.S. Constitution requires us to honor contracts we have struck and not unilaterally change them. The private sector has more flexibility in this area.”

The large number of state employees, combined with the fact people are living much longer, contributes to the problem, Ross said.

The Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) has 588,876 members, comprising 279,152 active workers, 194,622 retirees and 115,102 vested, inactive members who include laid-off employees or those out on medical leave. The State Employees Retirement System (SERS) has 107,239 active workers, 115,342 retirees and 5,000 inactive vested members as of Dec. 31.

Employees hired before July 1, 2011, get 2.5 percent times the number of years of service. So, a $60,000-a-year teacher or state worker with 30 years of service would get a $48,000 annual pension.

Gov. Tom Corbett, who called the pension crisis his “top priority,” has said he will try to make adjustments to pensions of existing public employees. But Ross said it could face a long court challenge that will cause uncertainty. “We’ve been very unsuccessful in predicting the behavior of the state Supreme Court,” Ross said, “and we think we fix the program based on what we adopt, but if the courts strike it down, suddenly that’s a brick wall.”

One long-term pension solution offered recently in Senate Bill 1185 would change the pension system for future school employees from a defined-benefit plan to a blended system, which includes benefits guaranteed by employers and contributions from workers. This proposal wouldn’t affect benefits of current retirees or any teachers now in the system.

Ross said another option is to negotiate with existing state employees, allowing them to voluntarily make changes.

There are some promising signs, Ross said.

School districts in Chester County and around the state have lately increased their contribution to the retirement fund from 3 percent to 7 percent. And over the past year, PSERSgot a return on its investment of 11.45 percent, a substantial improvement of its target of 7.5 percent return on investment. But continuing this success hinges on the steady improvement of the stock market and the economy in general.

Ross said selling state assets to aid the pension crisis is like someone who gets laid off selling their house and living more frugally.

“If we can throw a slug of money into this (pension) problem, we can bring down the amount of contributions we have to kick into the system, which will relieve our budget and give us a better shot,” Ross said.